Rita M Reali – författare

Nighttime radio announcer Marc Lindemeyr always blamed himself for his best friend''s suicide during senior year of high school. Haunted by a prickly incident with Patrick six weeks earlier, Marc''s life spirals into despair while his aspirations of studying architecture at Yale wither and fade.

Dr. Marie Sheldon has never liked her brother Gary''s radio-station coworker and close friend. She acts overtly hostile and disdainful toward Marc whenever their paths cross.

Can Marc make peace with his past and forge a dynamic future with the woman he loves? And can Marie curb her hostility long enough to recognize how deeply she loves Marc before it''s too late?

All his life, every woman who was important to Gary had a way of leaving, at the most inopportune time: through death, desertion – even amid deception. Through it all, the one constant was the unwavering love and faith-driven support of Edward, his beloved grandfather. But one day – all too soon – that love and support is suddenly stripped away, when the old man dies. Now all Gary has left is memories – and his granddad's rosary beads, which Edward had been clutching when he died. Plus, as the young man soon learns, a tidy fortune and a beach house on the Connecticut shore. In trying to cope with his emptiness and grief, Gary throws himself into his work. And other diversions.

When he meets Michaela, everything changes. Her spitfire assertiveness shines through her somber outer shell – put there, Gary is certain, by her own parents' recent breakup – and they forge an unusual friendship, which eventually deepens into love.

During the course of their courtship, Michaela acquires a terrible secret, which she hides from Gary, for fear of losing him. Over time, a series of revelations – each more stunning than the one before – makes Gary re-evaluate everything he was sure he knew. Everything.

Can Gary and Michaela salvage the tattered shreds of their relationship? Will her finally divulging the awful secret drive a further wedge between them – and can their faith enable them to pick up the pieces? Glimpse of Emerald is a tale of love and loss, betrayal and redemption, hope and faith.

What starts out as an average day ends up being anything but.

When Marc Lindemeyr wakes up the first Tuesday in July, his plans include lunch with his fiancée, Marie, then driving her to the airport to catch a flight to a medical conference. He fully expects to be back in time for his air shift at a local radio station. But he doesn''t know the half of it.

Before long, Marc finds himself at the center of an international incident - suddenly recognizable and instantly beloved. And that''s just what the shy nighttime radio announcer doesn''t want.

Through it all, Marc learns how - and how not - to navigate life in the spotlight, how to accept comfort when it''s offered... and what being a real hero is all about.

The Unintended Hero is the third volume in the Sheldon Family Saga, by award-winning novelist Rita M. Reali.